Page 36 - HOW TO TEACH GRAMMAR

Basic principles for grammar teaching

The E-factor: Efficiency = economy, ease, and efficacy.
Given that dealing with grammar is only part of a teacher’s activities, and given that classroom
time is very limited, it would seem imperative that whatever grammar teaching is done as efficiently
as possible. If, as has been suggested, the teacher’s energies should be at least partly directed at
getting learners to communicate, prolonged attention to grammar is difficult to justify. When considering
an activity for the presentation or practice of grammar the first question to ask, is: How efficient is it?
Efficiency in turn, can be broken down into three factors: economy, ease, and efficacy.
When presenting grammar, a sound rule of thumb is: the shorter the better. It has been known
that economy is a key factor in the training of technical skills. The more the instructor piles on
instructions, the more confused the trainee is likely to become. Be economical

Be economical, too, in terms of planning and resources. The ease factor recognizes the fact
that most teachers lead busy lives, have many classes, and simply cannot afford to sacrifice valuable
free time preparing elaborate classroom material. But realistically, painstaking preparation is not always
going to be possible. Generally speaking, the easier an activity is to set up, the better it is.
Will it work? That is to say, what is its efficacy? This factor is the least easy to evaluate. We
have to operate more on hunch than on hard data. Moreover, there is much greater skepticism
nowadays as to the extent that teaching causes learning. We now know a lot more about what
constitute the best conditions for learning. If teachers can’t directly cause learning, they can at least
provide the optimal conditions for it.

A prerequisite for learning is attention. So, the efficacy of a grammar activity can be partly
measured by the degree of attention it arouses. Attention without understanding, however, is probably
a waste of time. So efficacy will in part depend on the amount and quality of contextual information,
explanation and checking. Finally, understanding without memory would seem to be equally
ineffective, and so the efficacy of a presentation will also depend on how memorable it is.

None of these conditions, however, will be sufficient if there is a lack of motivation and, in the
absence of some external motivational factor, it is the teacher’s job to choose tasks and materials that
engage the learners.

The A-factor: Appropriacy

No class of learners is the same: not only are their needs, interests, level and goals going to vary, but
their believes, attitudes and values will be different too. Factor to consider when determining
Appropriacy include:

❖ The age of learners.
❖ Their level.
❖ The size of the group.
❖ The constitution of the group, e.g. monolingual or multilingual.

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